The young Swedish pianist Maria Letterberg plays all piano compositions by the brilliant, eccentric Russian Composer Alexander Scriabin. Based on the romantic tradition of Chopin, Scriabin's music increasingly developed a unique, tonal language, and incorporates philosophical theories into his boundless universe. The Bonus DVD includes fascinating visualizations of Scriabin's music - the composer associated his music with color progressions, realized here by the designer Andrea Schmidt

All Music Guide - Blair SandersonFor many years, listeners who wished to own the complete piano works of Alexander Scriabin had little other recourse than to settle for Michael Ponti's analog recordings on Vox, or to assemble a playlist piecemeal from various artists. Fortunately, Swedish virtuoso Maria Lettberg has recorded all of the published solo piano music for Capriccio, and it is an exceptional offering that fills collectors' needs admirably. Lettberg has made Scriabin's music a specialty within her large and varied repertoire, and her performances are consistently insightful, polished, and electric, which places her set among the finest recordings available. Her handling of the ten piano sonatas seems almost effortless and uncannily natural, despite their enormous technical demands and textural and rhythmic complexities, and her vibrant interpretations bear comparison with any other great pianist's. The preludes, etudes, mazurkas, impromptus, poems, and other short pieces are just as impressive, and Lettberg elevates each to the highest level of execution and expression. Because Maria Lettberg is not yet a household name in the United States, and Capriccio has limited distribution outside Europe, listeners should make a special effort to remember her and acquire her Scriabin, because the opportunity is too good to miss. Presented on eight CDs with a bonus DVD that offers video clips of some of the sonatas and Vers la flamme, and an interview with Lettberg, this trimline box may not look like a deluxe package, but the extraordinary music it contains is priceless.

Gramophone MagazineHow she relishes the violent moodswings of the Op.11 Preludes, music alternately lost in its own delirium or blaze with pianistic heroics... Obsessive patterns, harmonies and intervals seem to spin in interstellar space... This is an invaluable issue and a formidable achievement finely recorded.

Penguin Guide, 2011 editionMaria Lettberg can withstand comparison with the most exalted company. She is completely attuned to the hyper-refined sensibility and ecstatic rapture of Scriabin's world...Strongly recommended.

Reviews

Well Worth the Exploration

Scriabin is not going to displace Chopin on anyone's list of favorite composers but there is a lot of strikingly individual music in this set, much of it surpassingly beautiful. Can I say I completely understand his later works? No. But there are 5 or 6 CDs worth of enthralling material here, and all of it is superbly recorded and played. Five stars easy, and a real bargain.
Submitted on 11/17/13 by Steve L.